Gipsy is a young Czech Romany rapper whose latest album is called "Ya
Favourite CD Rom", with Rom a play on the Czech word for a Romany.
Radio Prague caught up with Gipsy this week, and he told us about his
relationship to Romany culture, his plans and - of course - his music.

"I'm rapping, I'm not playing in a Roma band. The question is: why
not? It's 2004. I'm looking to the future, I'm not looking to the past -
the past is behind me. I've been using Roma instruments on my album, there
are live instruments from Roma culture. I didn't forget my music, I just
changed it to the future."

"I have forgotten the Roma language. I grew up on the Czech streets
with Czech people, so I've spoken Czech all the time. I know words, I
understand pieces of language, but I don't get it all.

"My plan is not to stay with my music here. I've made already three
albums before and they are in Czech. What I wanted to do was level up, I
wanted to go a level up, which means I want to do an album for the
international scene, not only the Czech scene. Because why spend my
lifetime making another Czech album? I can make millions of Czech albums.

"I want to provoke all sides. Not only the white side - I want to
provoke all sides. I mean both...Gypsies, and everyone whose listening. I
don't want to go around...I just want to say if this is Coca Cola it is,
I'm not going to say yeah, it's some black drink - no. So I'll say this is
Gypsy, this is white, and it's like that. The best way to provoke, for me,
is to make ironic very black fun.

"My song Life of a Roma is about one young Gypsy. He takes drugs; he
sniffs toulen, which is a chemical. He's trying to describe his life and
he feels like yeah, I'm someone, I'm cool. But he's really ground zero,
he's no-one. So that's what the track is about. It's funny that he comes
to steal a car but he's not able to steal the car because he's on drugs
and he doesn't know he's doing. So it's funny, but it's true and it's also
very realistic."